By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
On paper, you’d probably assume that Star Trek and the Dalai Lama have little in common. After all, the former is the long-running science fiction franchise created by Gene Roddenberry and the latter is the spiritual leader of Tibet. However, all it took was an episode of The Next Generation to bring the best of both worlds (so to speak) together. While filming the Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 episode “The Ensigns of Command,” Trek producers and actors got to meet the Dalai Lama’s entourage, and they even took a picture with Data actor Brent Spiner.
Star Trek & The Dalai Lama
This is one tale that was very nearly lost to time but was, ironically enough, discovered thanks to a time travel movie. While working on an article about Star Trek: First Contact, Salon writer Jeff Greenwald began hearing rumors that the Dalai Lama had visited the set of The Next Generation. It was a pretty wild rumor, but the intrepid reporter knew that this famous monk owned a telescope as a kid and was interested in cosmology as an adult. Given that, it wasn’t that much of a stretch to imagine him as a fan of TV’s most influential sci-fi franchise.
The most exciting part of this rumor was the claim that when he personally visited the Star Trek: The Next Generation set, the Dalai Lama posed for a picture with Brent Spiner, best known for playing the android, Data. Greenwald had nearly run out of ways to run this rumor down when he received an unexpected gift. An unnamed Voyager staffer had heard about the reporter trying to put this story together and mailed the original photo slide to him via FedEx.
Once Greenwald got the photo, he discovered that the rumors were only half-true. The image really does show the Buddhist monk’s entourage touring the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation and taking a picture with Brent Spiner (who was in full costume and makeup as Data), but there was no sign of the Dalai Lama himself. At the time, Greenwald thought it was a pretty fair bet that this iconic religious figure must be a fan of The Next Generation and that his busy schedule simply kept him from personally touring the set.
While Jeff Greenwald had to work very hard to obtain this charming photo, many Star Trek fans had a much easier time seeing this picture of the Dalai Lama’s entourage. That’s because the image was included on the United Kingdom VHS release of “The Ensigns of Command.” If you didn’t have those tapes from across the pond, though, this image is quite the surprise, and it continues to delight fans who newly discover it each year.
While Gene Roddenberry was very cautious of including religion in Star Trek, newer shows like Strange New Worlds have explored the more spiritual side of this famous franchise. As it turns out, though, even the golden age of Trek was appealing to no less than the Dalai Lama himself.
And this unexpected intersection of sci-fi and spirituality certainly lived up to the franchise motto, boldly going where Roddenberry’s dream had never gone before.
Source: Salon
